I decided to try this on a test area that I use mainly for tropical milkweed. It’s one of the few areas in my yard that is open enough to plant extra seed.

March 16th I planted the Interseed Mix from Walnut Creek Seeds. I used half the packet and will reserve half in case the first seeding does poorly. I will later on plant my milkweed and hope all the crops will co-exist.

Below is what the cover crop looks like on April 27th.

I next used my trimmer and cut most of plants down to a couple inches high so that I could plant my milkweed. I’m not sure how much the cover crop will recover.

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You can see from the picture below that the cover crop came back dramatically and is growing faster than my milkweed in some places.

New England Aster1. Cuttings taken in spring. They are starting to bloom in Mid-September
2. I also cut plants to the ground in Mid-august. They are now coming back and blooming low to the ground.

Salvia
Is it better to just dead-head it or cut it back to the ground?
Answer – cut it back to theground. Note – this is also true of veronica

TransplantingAug 25 – took out zinnias in front and transplanted in VB, tropical milkweed, buddleia, blazing star, purple french hollyhock, milkweed cuttings. Also transplanted four echinacea from test bed – these are seeds I planted last fall.
RESULTS –

Zinnia Seeds
Will Zinnia Seeds from this years plants germinate?
Results: Yes! I saved some seeds from this years crop – usually it takes months for these seeds to be ready to plant, but these germinated easily.